Serenely calm, Kuma's buildings always feature a deft handling of materials and both practical and aesthetic use of horizontal and vertical louvers, cut-outs, and etchings. Some of his most famous works include the Kiro-san Observatory, which eschews the traditional dome-shaped archetype in favor of sinking the facilities deep into a seaside hill, the Museum of Hiroshige Ando, which uses vertical cedar poles to define the museum's slatted walls and roof, and the Stone Museum in Nasu, Japan, a complex of one-story buildings that connect three restored stone buildings from the early 20th century.